It is a very delicate situation that is occurring due to high bills. After the pandemic, the new emergency linked to price increases in the energy sector is dealing a very hard blow to consumers and businesses, who are increasingly in difficulty with payments. Engaged for years in an assistance activity with branches in the area, the Codici association is relaunching the usury alarm, an increasingly concrete risk.
“Pay the bills it is becoming complicated for many – says Ivano Giacomelli, National Secretary of Codici – and this is not only true for businesses, but also for consumers. As often happens in situations like this, the crisis becomes an opportunity for organized crime to do business.
Those who can’t pay their bills and can’t get credit from a bank, out of desperation, end up turning to the wrong people. A neighbor, someone who lives in the same neighborhood. It’s called proximity usury. It starts with a loan from a friend and ends up paying interest. And getting rid of loan sharks becomes very difficult.”
We must remain within the law, shortcuts only make the situation worse. It is not easy, also considering the general context, photographed by the report of the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate for the second half of 2021.
"The economic crisis is generating an exponential increase in usury - says Giacomelli - and the case of Lazio is emblematic. We have an increasingly widespread presence of Camorra and 'Ndrangheta, the infiltration of organized crime in the territories is increasingly widespread and dangerous. We are not just talking about Rome, but also the other provinces, as recent operations demonstrate. Important arrests, but at the same time worrying.
On the one hand, in fact, we have the confirmation of a very high level of alarm, on the other there is the demonstration of the need for a rapid and strong intervention by the State, which must reoccupy the territories freed from crime to prevent other clans, other organizations from taking over those dismantled.
And then it is essential to be close to citizens, who must be able to count on concrete help when they find themselves in difficulty, which is happening more and more often. A situation that occurs not only in cases of usury. We are referring to the previous phase, that of over-indebtedness. It is the antechamber of usury, a condition that, due to the pandemic first and then to the high cost of bills, involves more and more people”.
The Codici association provides legal assistance in cases of usury or over-indebtedness. To request help or make a report, you can call 06.55.71.996 or write to segreteria.sportello@codici.org.
Article published on 4 October 2022 - 14:30
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